Ridge cap for roofing



W' C' NORTl-l UV u),

J'M f (nl IUI 2in1 um, m 5 f W Patented June 22, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Application June 22,

7 Claims.

This invention relates to improvements in ridge caps or coverings for roofs, and has for one of its important objects to provide a sectional ridge cap or covering the sections of whichsecurely intert with each other and serve to cover and protect the fasteningv elements by which the sections are ,secured in ,place upon a roof, whereby longevity of the ridge cap or covering is obtained. Another important object of the invention is to provide a ridge cap or covering for roofs composed of sections which may be produced cheaply and easily and which may readily and easily be fastened upon a roof and securely assembled with each other in end to end telescopic relationship successively.

Another important object of the invention is to provide a ridge cap or covering for roofs comprising sections which telescopically intert at their ends insuch manner that tight joints be- :20 tween the sections are produced by the act of telescopically assembling the sections with each other. With the foregoing and other objects in View, which will becomevmore fully apparent as the nav25 ture of the invention is better understood, the

same consists in the novel features yof construction, combination and arrangement as will be hereinafter more fully described, illustrated in theaccompanying drawing and defined in the ap- 30 pendedclaims.

"In-the drawing, wherein like characters of reference denote corresponding parts in the different view/sz! Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a portion of a T35 roof showing the application thereto of a sectional ridgecap or covering constructed in accordance l withthe invention.

Fig. -2 is a longitudinal section through/the ridge cap or covering assembly shown inFig. 1.

Fig. 3-is a cross section` on the line 3-3 of Fig.

Figsfi and 5 are detail perspective views of the inner ends of the present ridge cap structure end sections, respectively.

Figrs'is a plan View of a blank from which one of the-end sections is formed, and

Fig. 7 is a view illustrating use of the cap on the hip of a roof. f

Referring to the drawing in detail, R designates, 50 generally, a roof structure of known type including, as'usual, a ridge pole I0, rafters II inclined downwardlyandfoutwardly from said ridge pole, boards I2 covering the `rafters, roong material I3^covering the boards --I2, anda cap-structure, 55 designatedgenerally as `-C andconstituting the 1936, Serial No. 86,669

subject matter of the present invention, covering theridge pole and overlying the roofing material I3 to either side of the ridge pole to provide for water tightness of the roof at its ridge.

Aside from the requirement that the ridge pole 5 Il] shall project above the roof structure proper in accordance with known building practice, the roof construction and the particular nature of the roong material I3 is immaterial. Also, it is immaterial whether the roofing material I3 merely Y extends to, or adjacent to, the ridge pole, or is flanged upwardly against the sides thereof, as the present ridge cap or covering is effective to provide for water tightness at the ridge of the roof in either case.

The present ridge cap or covering is comprised by a pair of end sections I4, I4 and any desired plurality of intermediate sections I5 of any suitable length for most convenient and economical manufacture, handling, assembly and application to a roof. The said sections are formed from any suitable sheet metal and all of them are of sub- Stantially semi-circular shape in cross section. Along their free or lower, longitudinally extending edges they are flanged inwardly, as indicated at I6, not only to impart stiiness to their sides and to provide smooth, straight free edges to snugly engage the roong material I3, but to providefor securely assembling the sections with each other.

Each intermediater section I5 is suitably provided at one end with an outwardly directed stiiening bead I1 and at its other end with an inwardly directed stiiening bead I8. These beads are of substantially semi-circular shape in cross section and the concave sides thereof face inwardly and outwardly, respectively. Moreover, at its beaded end I8, each sectionfIE, at each side thereof, has its lower corner either cut away or bent inwardly along a diagonal line extending downwardly and inwardly from the said end of the section to the bottom, flanged edge thereof, as indicated at I9.

Each` end section I4 is suitably closed at its outer end either by a piece of metal separate from the section, orby means of a plurality of overlapped tongues 20 formed by slitting the end 4portion of the section before it is bent into substantially semi-.circular shape. On the other hand, the inner end of one of the end sections is beaded similarly to the beaded ends I8 of the intermediate sections, as indicated at I8a, and theinner. end of the other end section is beaded similarly to the beaded ends Il of the intermediate sections, as indicated at Ila. In addition, the first mentioned end section, at its inner end and at each side thereof, has its lower corner cut away or bent inwardly along a diagonal line, as indicated at ida, in the same manner as one end of each intermediate section lil.

In applying the cap structure to a roof, an end section M having an inwardly directed bead l8a iirst is engaged over the ridge pole lil in covering relationship thereto and seated thereon with its closed cuter nd against the end of the ridge pole and its bottom, anged edges I6 engaging the roong material to either side of the ridge pole. One or more nails or other fastenings 2| then is, or are, driven through the end closure or overlapped tongues 2t into the end of the ridge pole to secure the outer end of the end section thereto, and one or more nails or other fastenings 22 then is, or are, driven downwardly through the inner end portion of said end section into the ridge pole to secure the inner end of said end section to said ridge pole. An intermediate section l5 then is engaged at its beaded end l1 over the inner end of the applied end section I4 in such manner that the diagonally extending lower edges tijd at the inner end of the end section are received within the grooves formed by the inturned anges lt of the intermediate section, and the intermediate section then is driven or forced in any suitable manner longitudinally toward the applied end section. Due to the resulting wedging action between the anges i6 and the inclined edges isa, the beaded end Il of the intermediate section is drawn downwardly into snug engagement with the inner end of the end section in covering relationship to the fastening or fastenings 2t and, at the same time, the said outer or beaded end il' of the intermediate section is securely interlocked with the inner end of the end section against upward movement relative thereto. The beaded end i3 of the intermediate section then is nailed or otherwise fastened in the same manner as the inner end of the end section, and another intermediate section is engaged with the applied intermediate section in the same manner as the first intermediate section was applied to the end section, this operation being repeated until the opposite end of the roo-f ridge is reached, whereupon the other end section ll is applied in the same manner as the intermediate sections are applied to the first end section and to each other. Finally, the last mentioned end section is secured at its outer end to the related end of the ridge pole in the same manner as the outer end of the first mentioned end section.

Obviously, when the ridge cap is` completed, all of the top fastenings thereof are effectively covered and protected, and since it is at points where there are exposed fastenings that roong usually begins to deteriorate, it follows that, so far as concerns deterioration of the present ridge cap structure due to exposure of its fastenings, it will possess extremely long life. Moreover, the ribbing of the inner ends of the end sections, and of both ends of the intermediate sections, as shown and described, not only stiifens said ends and provides for their snug intertting engagement, but provides, at the same time an effective means of preventing water from reaching the ridge pole, since any water which may enter between the overlapped or telescopically engaged ends of any two of the sections will enter the upwardly or outwardly facing groove formed by the bead i8 and be conducted by said groove to points at opposite sides of the ridge pole where it will flow onto and be conducted away by the roofing material i3.

Figure 'l of the drawing illustrates that the present cap structure is not restricted to use at the ridge of a roof but may be used along a roof hip or at any other location where two differently slanting parts of a roof meet in a ridge or hip. Moreover, it is to be understood in this connection that in any case where a ridge or hip pole does not extend above the ridge or hip, or in any case where a roof ridge or hip does not include a ridge or hip pole, a suitable strip may be nailed or otherwise fastened to the ridge or hip to provide an element the equivalent of a ridge or hip pole to which to nail the present cap sections lli and i5. Furthermore, it is apparent that the employment of overlapping tongues such as the tongues 2@ to form the end closures for the end sections l permits the sides of said end sections to be adjusted inwardly and outwardly relative to each other so that said sides may readily be made properly to fit over any given ridge or hip regardless of the slope of the roof to either side of the ridge or hip. In this connection, since the intermediate sections l5 are open at their ends, it is obvious that there is nothing to prevent the sides of said sections from being adjusted inwardly and outwardly.

Without further description it is thought that the features and advantages of the invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art, and it will of course be understood that changes in the form, proportion` and minor details of construction may be resorted to, without departing from the spirit of the invention and scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. In a roof having a ridge and a ridge pole, a ridge cap structure including' end and intermediate sections of substantially semi-circular shape in cross section engaged over the ridge pole and intertted in overlapping relationship at their ends against upward movement relative to each other, and means fastening each section to the ridge poles and covered by 'the overlying portion of the next adjacent section, the end sections being closed at their outer ends and being secured at their outer ends to the ends of the ridge pole.

2. In a roof having a ridge and a ridge pole, a ridge cap structure including end and intermediate sections of substantially semi-circular shape in cross section engaged over the ridge pole in end to end relationship, one end of each section being fastened to the ridge pole and being overlapped, where fastened, by the adjacent end of the next adjacent section, the sections where overlapped being interitted against upward movement of the overlapping portions of the sections relative to the underlying section portions, overlapped tongues -at the outer ends of the end sections providing outer end closures for said sections, and fastening means extending through said end closures into the ends of the ridge pole.

3. In a roof having a ridge and a ridge pole, a ridge cap structure including a plurality of sections of substantially semi-circular shape in cross section engaged over the ridge pole in end to end relationship, each section being fastened at one end to the ridge pole and at said end having its lower corners inclined downwardly from said end toward the other end of the section and to the bottom edges thereof, the adjacent end of each next adjacent section being telescopically engaged over the fastened end of the preceding section and having inturned flanges `at the bottoms of its sides providing grooves in which are disposed the inclined corner edges ofv the preceding section.

4. In a roof having a ridge, a ridge cap structure comprising a plurality of sections of substantially semi-circular shape in cross section overlying the ridge and disposed in end to end overlapping relationship, means for fastening said sections to the roof, andrmeans whereby endwise movement of the overlying end portion of each section relative to the underlying end portion of an adjacent section draws the overlapped ends of the sections into snug engagement with each other. f

5. A ridge cap structure for roofs including a plurality of sections of substantially Semi-circular shape in cross section to be disposed in end to end overlapping relationship in covering relation to a roof ridge, and means providing wedging connections between adjacent ends of the sections effective to interlock adjacent ends of the sections against vertical movement relative to each other and also effective by longitudinal movement of the sections relative to each other to draw the overlapped ends of the sections into snug engagement with each other.

6. A ridge cap structure as set forth in claim 5 in which the overlying and the underlying end portions of adjacent sections are provided, re-

y spectively, with outwardly and inwardly directed beads of which the bead at the underlying end of each section has the form of an upwardly facing groove.

7. A ridge cap structure as set forth in claim 5 in which the underlying end portion of each section is provided with an upwardly facing groove.

WILLIAM C. NORTH. 

